JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 4, 2012) – As the ETSU men’s soccer team moves into Atlantic Sun play, head coach Scott Calabrese sat down with the media relations staff to answer some questions and update the fans and media about the status of the team.

Below are Coach Calabrese’s responses to this week’s edition.

1. Looking back at Sunday’s game against Mercer, the team seemed to control the majority of the game, including a 19-4 advantage in shots, but still came out on the wrong end of the result. How do we prevent that from happening in the future?

“Against Mercer, we were able to get into very dangerous positions when we circulated the ball quickly, but some of the shots we took were from areas with a limited chance for success. This week, we have worked to improve our decisions in the final third, as well as the quality of our finishing. In future games, we might not take 19 shots, but the opportunities we will look to create will be from areas that have a better chance of resulting in goals.

“We also need to be concentrated for 90 minutes without a single lapse in focus. We have been made to pay for our mistakes this season, and more so than in previous seasons. If we are making good decisions, we will limit the danger created by our opponents and that is critical for us.”

2. Looking ahead to this weekend, the team faces North Florida on Friday and Jacksonville on Sunday. How vital is coming away with six points, especially being that these games are at home?

“It’s important for us to focus on our performance. If we outwork our opponents, have a winning mentality, make good decisions and execute, then the results will take care of themselves. If we focus on the points or anything else, we will not be focusing in the right way.”

3. On Friday, ETSU takes a moment to do its share to help in the fight against breast cancer with our annual pink game. If you could, go into how much that means to our program and the community.

“I personally feel very close to this cause. My family has been affected by cancer and I know that several of our players have family members who have been affected by this disease. The soccer programs from the A-Sun have joined together to support the cause and, in the spirit of competition, will honor the program who raises the most money for the Coaches vs. Cancer fund. We receive such great support from our community and I feel that this is a great opportunity for us to give back to a cause we all have such a strong connection to.”

4. If you had to give a message to the fans about the state of our team and where we would like to be coming out of this weekend, what would it be? Also, how much does their support mean to our team at the home games?

“We have a team capable of great things, and who want to make ETSU and their supporters proud. We truly need as much support as possible this weekend with two critical conference games on the line. We have had fantastic support from the students and the community, and our players perform better with our fans behind them. As we are looking to extend our season with postseason play, it’s important that our fans are there to help us to get the results we need.”

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